YOU AT YOUR BEST.

Wheel Adventure

Training Advice To Help You Go The Distance

At 43, Barbara Ruley of Denver was, she says, "a couch potato and out of shape like crazy." But not anymore. Since February, she's lost 20 pounds, stopped smoking and given up alcohol.

"Now I can eat whatever I want," she says. "My teenage son said, `Mom, you have great legs."'

She did it bicycling. In March, she began training for the Denver Post's 8th annual Ride the Rockies, a noncompetitive six-day, 428-mile tour kicking off Sunday that will take 2,000 registered riders through the north-central Rockies.

She faces a challenging tour: five major mountain passes, elevations ranging from 9,000 feet to more than 12,000 feet, with overnight stops in Estes Park, Granby, Steamboat Springs, Vail and Frisco.

Organized recreational tours such as this offer the kind of group effort and support that makes cycling especially appealing to women.

"You meet the best people," Ruley says. "There's real camaraderie. You see old people, young people. And it leaves you with a real nice feeling. Plus I get to be all by myself."

Petra James of Aurora, Colo., will be riding in the tour for the fourth time. James, 47, who is blind, rides the stoker (rear) position on a tandem bike.

She works 10-hour days, four days a weeks, but trains an hour and a half daily. She rides an exercise bike every other day. On the other days, she uses a stair-step machine, lifts weights and runs in place. On weekends, she rides the tandem bike with her husband or her ride partner.

Next year James would like to try the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). "I hear it's a lot of fun and flatter."

Claire Martin, a staff writer for the Denver Post, rode the RAGBRAI in 1985 with a friend. At that point, the most she'd ridden at one time was 20 miles, she says. "It's really democratic; there are kids, all kinds of bikes. People selling roasted corn out of vans.

"I thought, this is so cool. It would be a cinch to get people to do it in Colorado."

The Post began sponsoring their ride, which Martin named Ride the Rockies, in 1987. Martin, who writes a weekly series on training, recommends a program that starts with shorter distances three times a week, then intensifies on the weekend by doubling the distance on one or both days. For example, 10 miles three times a week, then 20 on one or both weekend days. Then double the distance the following weekend and so on for 12 weeks.

In addition to cycling, distance riders need to strengthen stomach muscles, which support the back; buttocks, arms and neck, which absorb road shock. Periodic stretching is important.

Riders should not be in pain, Carpenter says. Aches and pains indicate the bike is not fitted to the rider. Adjust before you go. And relax, she adds.

"A lot of people get tense, pull their shoulders up toward their ears," Carpenter says. "It's important to keep the elbows bent, not locked, and a light but firm grip on the handlebars."

Carpenter and her husband, champion cyclist Davis Phinney, conduct two one-week cycling camps the first two weeks in August at the Beaver Creek Resort near Vail. Aimed at serious cyclists, they teach nutrition, safe handling, good posture and relaxation. (Cost: $949, includes meals, instruction; 800-323-4386.)